2024-01-02 00:00:00
Authorities of the General Directorate of Customs (DGA) A collection of 6,400 fossils were returned to the province of Río Negro of incalculable heritage value that, through an international alert, They had prevented them from smuggling into Spain, country to which they were transported hidden in containers coming from that Argentine province, according to They commented to the Télam agency from the aforementioned national organization.
Among the items rescued and taken to the Bernardino Rivadavia Museum in Río Negro were dinosaur eggsthe complete skeleton of a hadrosaur, a ammonite more than 20 centimeters in diameter and multiple amber piecesmillions of years old, with insects preserved in perfect condition inside.
Furthermore, within the enormous seized collection there were several specimens of outstanding historical value, such as the oldest daisy flower fossil in the world, 47 million years old, a box of chocolates with a double bottom in which the traffickers had hidden several high-value pieces and tool boxes inside which the smugglers had camouflaged very small fossils that were covered with plaster and paint to pass them off as simple decorations.
Once the cultural assets returned to Argentina, the Bernardino Rivadavia Museum and the INAPL certified their authenticity and, finally, delivered them to the province of Río Negrowhere most of them belong from.
Finally, Customs took the opportunity to remind that the Legal export of paleontological and archaeological pieces requires the endorsement of the Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences and the National Institute of Anthropology and Latin American Thought (INAPL), established as enforcement authorities by Law No. 25,743.
“However, the cultural assets in question They lacked their certificationswhereby the improper maneuver constitutes a violation of the articles 610 and 954 of the Customs Code, in addition to Law No. 19,943, on Cultural Assets”, pointed out the specialists.
It should be noted that fossils are considered prohibited export goods according to art. 610 paragraph f of the Customs Code and the legal framework is aggravated smuggling 864 paragraph d) with the aggravating circumstance of art. 865 subsection g), the penalties provided are between 4 to 10 years in prison.
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